Homeless in Arizona

The authors seem to ramble on and on and say "marijuana is bad, bad, bad" but they don't give any real credible evidence to back up their claims, other then the statements legalizing will cause problems.

Last the authors don't seem to admit that the "War on Drugs" is a jobs program for cops and a cash cow for police departments and don't admit that they have a vested financial interest in continuing the "War on Drugs" and "War on Marijuana"

Source

Law enforcement: Our problems with Arizona's pot initiative

Should Arizona legalize recreational marijuana use?

Frank L. Milstead, Bill Montgomery and Sheila Polk, AZ We See It 7:51 a.m. MST April 4, 2016

The arguments that we should 'regulate marijuana like alcohol' in Arizona simply don't add up, two county attorneys and the DPS director say.

The people behind the marijuana initiative want to “regulate marijuana like alcohol.” Clever marketing. But it hides the many flaws inherent in legalizing this drug – flaws that have statewide law-enforcement leaders, along with many others, united in opposition. [Clever sound bite against legalizing marijuana, but no evidence given to back it up]

Just look to Colorado, the pioneer in marijuana legalization. Since legalization there, teen use has increased to more than 70 percent above the national average. So much for this being about giving adults choices. Arizona should expect similarly disastrous effects. [Saying marijuana should be illegal for adults because children might illegally use marijuana, is just as silly as saying automobiles should be illegal for adults because children might illegally drive cars.]

Meanwhile, advocates claim that legalization will allow law enforcement to focus on more serious crimes than marijuana possession. We already are: Only about 3 percent of marijuana users are ever arrested, and those people are generally involved in other crimes as well. Or, they are carrying pounds (not ounces) of marijuana. [Sounds like some double talk from the authors]

We'd make more arrests, not fewer

We also make a lot more arrests for alcohol and liquor violations. If marijuana is regulated like alcohol, we would actually end up making more arrests for marijuana violations, not fewer. The legalization logic thus runs: Marijuana is a problem, alcohol is a bigger problem, so we should make marijuana like alcohol. This makes no sense. [Sounds like some double talk from the authors]

In Colorado, the black market for marijuana did not end. It thrives, and police now have a more difficult job sorting out the legal from the illegal. Instead of allowing law-enforcement officials to divert their attention to more serious crimes, legalization has complicated their job, requiring them to spend more time on marijuana. Hardly an improvement. [Your not going to end the black market until you COMPLETELY legalize marijuana with a RAD or Relegalize All Drugs initiate or even almost completely legalize marijuana with an initiative like AZfrm or Arizonans for Mindful Regulation. The MPP initiative intentionally keeps the black market to create higher profits for the special interest group who will be given a monopoly on selling recreational marijuana]

This is just the beginning. Since legalization in Colorado, that state has seen an increase in traffic fatalities related to marijuana, an increase in marijuana-related hospitalizations and emergency room visits, and an increase in marijuana-related calls to poison control. Much of this is due to the high potency and attraction of marijuana edibles. Now think about what will happen in Arizona when our children bite into pot-infused gummy bears, cookies and lollipops. [The authors seem to be saying that if marijuana is legalized for adults it will magically be available to any child who wants it. That's a lie]

The proposed law solves none of the problems proponents of legalization say it will. It exacerbates them. [More double talk with no supporting facts]

A slew of new costs and problems

Beyond all this, the industry-friendly initiative creates an entire set of new costs and problems for Arizona:

The proposed law fills 20 pages with complex legal language. [Now that's true] It will be voter protected, so the problems cannot be fixed by the state Legislature. We simply have to live with them.

The proposed law transfers regulatory authority over this harmful and addictive drug from the Department of Health Services to a newly created department, leading to even more government. [Since when is marijuana an ADDICTIVE DRUG???] The proposed law creates a Marijuana Commission packed with industry representatives. Regulate it like alcohol? Not likely as the fox would be guarding the henhouse.

Even at that, there isn’t much left to guard. The initiative makes penalties for violations much weaker than alcohol penalties. [That's an outright like. The MPP penalties for illegal marijuana are mostly felonies and generally much harsher then penalties for existing liquor law violations] It makes our roads more dangerous by weakening the ability to prosecute marijuana-impaired drivers. [Again it's an outright lie that the initiatives allow people to drive stoned on marijuana. NONE Of them do.] This is not regulating marijuana like alcohol; it’s giving marijuana a free pass and sending all the wrong signals to our youth.

The proposed law was written by the medical-marijuana dispensary industry, which cynically gives itself a monopoly on retail licenses. [That's true for the MPP initiative] The proposed law creates a statutory right to use marijuana that protects marijuana users over employers and landlords, and over the rights of other employees.

The benefits in this initiative flow to the marijuana industry for the purpose of their profits — and at the expense of our public health, education and safety. This will all translate to more abuse by teens, more emergency room visits, more traffic deaths and more societal costs. We in law enforcement want none of that. No Arizonan should. [Again double talk with no supporting facts]

Frank Milstead is director of the Arizona Department of Public Safety, Bill Montgomery is the Maricopa County Attorney. Sheila Polk is the Yavapai County Attorney. Email them at info@ardp.org.